Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Have you ever seen a word and read the same word upside down? This is one form of an ambigram. An ambigram (from Latin: ambiboth + gram = letter) is a word or words that can be read in more than one direction, where the word reads the same when upside down or turn over to form an entirely new word. The term “ambigram” was first used to mean “ambiguous anagram” by Judith E. Bagai, a former editor of The Enigma, the official organ of The National Puzzlers’ League.

There are many types of ambigrams such as rotational ambigrams, reflective types, 3-dimensional, etc. but the most basic and popular ones are the flipscript or rotational ambigram in which word or words when flipped both horizontal or vertical way, still spells the same word as before. Today, ambigrams are used in graphic design, commercial logos, book covers, tattoo artworks and music albums. These typographical artworks are used by graphic designers because of their symmetry and the optical illusions it present. Ambigrams became much more popular when it was prominently featured in Dan Brown's bestselling novel, Angels & Demons. With patience and creativity, you can turn any word into an ambigram.

Below are my collection of 40 really cool and creatively designed ambigrams. Without further ado, let start twisting our neck and try to view them in upside down :)

Flash lovers and haters, we’d like to seek your opinion on Flash – Flash content and it’s future. Comment in and win yourself a 1-year subscription to BannerSnack – high quality flash banner maker, or simply just to voice your opinion.

The video above is a comic strip created in Flash (with BannerSnack) about a debate on Flash between a designer and a programmer.

To view this animated banner you need to have Flash Player 9 or newer installed and JavaScript enabled. BannerSnack is a banner creator that allows you to create cool flash banners without coding.

If you are a designer, developer or rich media content creator, you’ve probably heard or participate in discussions and debate about the latest argument on the technology of web publishing – Flash vs HTML5. Things become more intense when Apple make public announcement that they are not going to include Flash in any of their product after claiming Flash is buggy and unstable. Adobe of course, has stood firm on their ground and fight back.

Try Googling for "Flash vs HTML5" you should be able to find yourself some really interesting read. And here are just to name a few:

What do you think?

Can these two co-exist or is HTML5 going to totally replace Flash? What’s the future for Flash? We’d like to know about your love and hate for Flash (Flash content and Flash banners).

Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

Contest

This post-come-contest is collaboration with BannerSnack, an online service that helps you create Flash banners on the fly without any software. We’ll pick 3 of the best commentators and send you a 1 year free subscription of BannerSnack.